Tag Archives: animals

Lately I’ve been struck by the wildlife that I see here in just my small radius of living in India. I don’t have a car or a scooter – a popular form of transportation here – so walking is my only means of getting around. Given this, I was shocked when the other day I almost ran into a troop of…

I’ve found through my life that the most calm times of the day are right as the sun’s rays are breaking above the horizon and just as the hues of the light are changing from yellow to orange to red to dark. In other words, dawn and dusk.

We drove up, parked the RV, and walked up, just as it made it’s grand eruption: Old Faithful! We were finally in Yellowstone!

The crowd around Old Faithful

And yes, we did arrive just as Old Faithful erupted; it was actually pretty incredible timing. My sisters and my dad and I then proceeded to walk around the geysers near Old Faithful, which were really cool. They’re all boiling and bubbling and steaming, and the water is so clear! (One of these, it the picture taken above of Doublet Pool.) However, it smelled. Like sulfur. Which, if any of you know what that smells like, is exactly like rotten eggs. Dad says the reason it smells so bad is because Old Faithful is really a monster that farts ever 40-90 minutes! While I know better then that (I’m not that naïve anymore, Dad!), I was starting to think we shouldn’t have eaten eggs that morning for breakfast… Continue reading →

We did add a few more stops to our trip before leaving, though, hitting the Mud Volcanoes, the Lower and Upper Falls, and Tower Fall. We also saw tons of bison before leaving the park, as well as pronghorns.

A Snowstorm in June(A park ranger trying to secure the American flag in the middle of a snowstorm)

The theme for today was bear-searching! Above all other types of wildlife, we really wanted to see a bear. They’re supposed to be abounding here in Yellowstone; everywhere we go, there are signs telling us how to “Be Bear Aware” and what to do if you meet a bear, and how to act when you’re on your hikes to prevent a run-in with a bear. All of these led my sisters and me to believe these amazing, furry, terrifying creatures were everywhere!

In the morning, we went on a hike called “Elephant Back Hike,” which is, according to one of the park guides, a local favorite – traipsing up a mountain peak in the woods until you finally arrive at the pinnacle, where there’s a stunning view of Yellowstone Lake with the Absaroka Mountain Range in the background. However, we did not see a bear, let alone any wildlife! (We did see snow, though… Weren’t we just in the desert a few days ago?!)

We arrived back to the RV only to find out that my grandma and the dogs had seen a huge bison right in front of the RV! After bemoaning our bad luck for a bit, we made lunch and saw… Continue reading →

On this lovely Sunday morning, we woke up to the sound of blue herons fighting above our RV. It was fine, though, since we knew we had to get going for the day. The first thing we were going to do in Sedona was rent ATVs!

My mom, my dad, and my sisters and I all went to the Sedona ATV & Buggy Rental where we had two two-person buggies and a traditional four-wheeler ATV ready to go for us. After getting a quick tutorial and a map, we were on our way!

And now for the highlight of our trip thus far: a floating raft tour down the Colorado River! I have to tell you: this was absolutely amazing! We rafted down Glen Canyon, beginning at the Glen Canyon Dam and ending at Lees Ferry. The canyon was huge! And so incredibly beautiful!

We had made reservations with the Colorado River Discovery tour, which is the only company allowed to do any sort of motorized boat tour down the Colorado. They have a ten year permit for which they had bid from the US Government; they only have five years left before they either rebid or relinquish the monopoly to another company. Our tour guide, Megan, was extremely informative and is the one who told us all of this.

The tour began at the Glen River Dam, where the dam is holding back Lake Powell. My sisters, my grandma, and I hopped into a huge blue inflatable raft and off we went! Continue reading →